Fruits
of labour
From a ferro-alloy unit and a confectionery to a thriving
orchard, these brothers have made it
The
island of green stands out in the barren landscape. Well
planted. It is the only patch of vegetation in the rolling
waste-lands of Kharagpur. Not only is it the first fruit and
vegetable farm in the region but it is also the only one to
produce mausambis (Citrus sinemsis) in West Bengal.
Planned and developed by the Mahapatra brothers of Kharagpur, the plantation at Choto Ayoma village is showing the way to hundreds of farmers and landowners who had no idea what to do with their land.
In 1987 the four brothers gathered for their youngest brother's marriage at Panskura in Midnapore.
That was when the eldest, Madhu, mooted the idea of starting their own company.
The four--Madhusudan, 50, the eldest, a metallurgist; Nilratan, 46, a hotel management expert; Kalobaran, 42, a diploma-holder form the Hotel Catering & Institution Management, London, and Dev Nandan, 39, a commerce graduate--all had good jobs. Madhu was production manager in a refractories company, Nilratan ran the canteen of a Swedish concern in Calcutta, Kalobaran managed a Ramada Inn hotel in Switzerland and Dev was general manager of the Doha unit of Avis rent-a-car in the Middle-East.
Banking on Madhu's experience in metallurgy, the brothers pooled their savings and opened a ferro-alloy unit at Panskura.
It took them two years and Rs 35 lakh to commission
the plant. Their product, ferro-silica , was much in demand
and they never had to develop a market. By hard work they
overcame start-up problems to attain capacity production of
one tonne of ferro-silica a day in 1992.
Dev gave up his job in Doha and joined the business.
But their luck ran out when they encountered labour trouble. Their raw material from Bihar was being unloaded by the transporters' coolies. Then the local CITU unit started pressuring the brothers to hire local coolies even though it would mean paying extra.
The brothers refused. One day a belligerent mob turned violent and attacked Madhu and Kalobaran in the factory. They were beaten up and would have been seriously injured but for the presence of a local bus driver who saved their lives.
The rampaging mob destroyed the furnace, the transformer and office equipment and the Mahapatras lost their dream project.
Disheartened, the brothers decided to go back to their regular jobs and would have done so but for the intervention of their wives: Pratima, Jayashri, Dola and Geeta, who were made of sterner stuff. They coaxed the brothers back into business.
Bitten by the entrepreneur bug, the brothers did not take much prodding. Only this time, relying on Nilratan and Kalobaran's expertise in hotel management, they chose to try their hand at confectionery.
For that they relocated to Kharagpur in 1992 and started producing cakes, pastries and patties under the brand name of Little Sisters. While Madhu took charge of overall administration, Dev handled the finances.
Within a year the Little Sisters products became
popular in the local markets. Today their products have all
but replaced big names in Midnapore and the brothers are
happy. They have maintained a price edge and quality control
has brought them new customers with every passing day.
About two years ago the brothers decided to diversify.
"Ours is a joint family," said Nilratan. "We are four brothers and we have three sons and two daughters." So they asked themselves: "Should we keep all our eggs in one basket?"
While they kept a lookout for opportunities Kalobaran happened to attend a seminar on wasteland management at the IIT, Kharagpur. There he met Dr Vishnubhotla Dakshinamurthy, 69, a citrusexpert, who had turned arid regions of Andhra Pradesh into fruitful plantations. Kalobaran showed Dakshinamurthy the brothers' one acre and a half-plot of land near the IIT campus at Choto Ayoma village and Dakshinamurthy took a handful of soil for laboratory testing.
His report was: "Go ahead with your project. This land is suitable for growing citrus fruits, particularly mausambis."
Dakshinamurthy advised the brothers to purchase more wasteland close to their plot. Once the brothers demonstrated the viability of growing citrus fruits land would be in demand as local farmers tried to copy their success.
By the end of that year the brothers had purchased 48.5 acres . Out of funds, the brothers went about their plan in phases. They got a deep tube well dug manually, which cost them Rs 1.5 lakh.
"Time was not important, money was," Kalobaran told The Week. Once much of the basic infrastructure was ready the brothers got IIT faculty members to help them prepare their project report. They would need a whopping Rs 48 lakh to start up.
Convincing banks to part with money for their unlikely venture was something the brothers had not bargained for. All the banks they approached refused a loan. But one bank relented when the brothers got a certificate from the IIT stating that the project was indeed viable.
With that loan they bought 5,000 saplings of the best variety of Mausambi from Kudur in Andhra Pradesh. They also acquired 8,000 teak saplings, 1,000 coconut palms, 150 mango, 5,000 banana and 150 pomegranate saplings.
For security they raised a six-foot high wall along the perimeter of their holding.
It takes three to four years for a mausambi tree to yield its quota of 1,000 to 1,200 fruits a year. The trees normally bear twice a year, in June and December. The Mahapatra brothers completed planting their saplings by September 1994.
With monthly overheads of Rs 25,000 the brothers started intercropping with vegetables between the rows of fruit trees to defray the daily operating expenses.
Today 40 hands work the plantation and the blooming orchard offers a lesson in perseverance for other farmers and businessmen in the area.
In December 1996 the brothers got one lakh mausambis from trees that were a little more than two years old. And each one of them was bigger than a tennis ball. But they will have to wait till 1998 to get the full crop of fruit.
"If everything goes as per schedule we expect at least 50 lakh mausambis from 5,000 trees, which will weigh almost 1,000 tonnes," said Kalobaran.
The average annual offtake of mausambis in the West Bengal market is 6,000 tonnes but not even one tonne is grown in the state," said Dev. The state imports the fruit from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
According to Dev, the fruit is transported by road and the average cost of bringing it to Bengal is approximately Rs 15,000 per truck.
"Our target is to capture 15 to 17 per cent of the market to start with, " he said. "Our fruit will be cheaper and in quality there is no doubt that it is comparable with that grown in other states."
Meanwhile, the plantation has become a favourite stop for amazed visitors. It attracts hundreds of eager farmers and businessmen. "Almost every day contact us and visit the plantation to learn the tricks of the trade," said Nilratan.
Haldia Petroleum, Hindustan Lever and the Salua Air Force base authorities have requested the brothers to help them set up similar ventures.
Mindful of the need to adopt modern methods, the Mahapatra brothers are setting up a high-tech tissue culture laboratory and a greenhouse in the orchard.
"It will cost us around Rs 1.25 crore," said Dev. "But this time the bank loan is not a problem." In fact four banks are vying to help.
TAPASH GANGULY
